In a wireless communication network, a wireless device at the edge of an access node coverage area can experience signal fading from a serving access node, which can degrade information throughput to and from the wireless device. The wireless device can also experience signal interference when frequencies are re-used by neighboring access nodes. Such inter-cell interference (ICI) may degrade data transmission near a coverage area edge, reducing data throughput and spectral efficiency to wireless devices near the coverage area edge. Issues of signal fading and interference can be particularly acute in a heterogeneous network (HetNet) environment comprising access nodes of varying signal power and geographic distribution.